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Hey folks. Yes, I'm a noob, as my bucket will no doubt reveal. Here it is, minus the ear decals. -working on that.

This was made from one of the cheap ass rubber models. I don't even remember the manufacturer, I bought it a few years ago and did nothing with it until now.

The only problem I found I couldn't fix was doming the top of the helmet which was quite flat when I bought it. I did improve it some after hours of tedious hours warping it with a heat gun. By the time I bondoed the inside of it though, it had begun to flatten out again. Hope its not TOO noticable.

I think it must be rubber on the outside (or some rubber-plastic hybrid). I reinforced the inside with some aluminum strips that I molded into a frame. Afterwards, I fiberglassed the inside. Now it's quite sturdy, I could drop it off my roof and it wouldn't crack. The visor and the range finder are of course more delicate.

Hey man while your bucket is not movie accurate it does show that you have a great understanding that the helmet is beat to heck and really dirty also. With these two concepts you can take what you learn on this board and make a great helmet.

Nice job man, I have to say, for your first attempt it looks good. I love the weathering. Like it was pointed out earlier, it may not be screen accurate, but it definately shows you have the most important aspect down: This helmet took a beating.

Also, I was able to put my finger on why it appears Manga-ish.
The front area at the mandibles is stocky and not as long as most of the other helmets. Almost like it's been squished.
I like it.

Yes, Now that you mention it, I did end up putting more emphasis on the front. I think that by the time I had gotten to the back of the helmet I felt that the front was a bit over-done with the scarring.

The battle scarring, while it may look unique, did not turn out at ALL how I expected. After painting the bucket silver, I laid down some blue-tape for the scars and continued on with the paint job. The darker paint scheme was intentional and I was happy with the way it looked until i removed the blue-tape! It had in some places fused with the silver paint below. I gave it 24 hours to dry before I applied the tape, but when i took it off, it left a dingy-flat surface rather than a mirror-shiny one. I 'fixed' this with a metalic sharpie which ended up being the saving grace of this project.

I've read LOTS of threads on this site about getting the exact ESB or ROTJ color schemes down, but few about getting the right effect with the scrapes, etc. HOW DO I DO THAT?

While we're at it, is Don Post the way for me to go from here on out? whats a fair price? where can i find one?

Well for the scaring and layered damage, it sounds silly, but mustard, make sure its honey lol, but seriously many people have used that with great results, although it takes along time to cure.

I personaly used liquid mask, found at the hobbie supply store I recommend that, it dried fast and doesnt pull paint or discolor it. Before that The peel off mask found at Wal-Mart, but it took a really long time to dry.

Take your time and mask off each section of the helmet, detailing each section seperatly, with pictures of that section of the helmet you working on visor/crown/back/ear pieces etc.

Mine took 2 months to paint, and its by no means as good as some peoples but I'm happy with it.

As far as a DP helmet, its the inexspensive alternative to having a decent helmet and with some extra effort can be made into a nice helmet.

DP95's go for around 50-100 dollars unpainted depending on condition. 96 is the same size but material seems weaker to me. and finaly Fiberglass is the ultimate and what was used in the screen version, there are tons of people who make them, so take your time, ask for lots of pics/sizes style etc. and decide carefully dont rush into anything. Much like the jet pack the helmet is a key piece and really important.

Lastly watch out for Ebay, Unless its a member of TDH selling there goods you have to be really careful, lots of bad mold pulls are sold and decribed as perfect.

BigaboyFett wrote:
Word on the mustard! I mustard' up my gauntlets at lunch break yesterday, painted over the dry mustard last light...then licked and chewed it off this morning...Musta-Licious! Looks great!

Predatormv wrote:
This weekend I will be putting up a "mustard method" tutorial with pics and all.

I can't recommend eating the mustard once it has been painted over, as I was always told eating paint chips was a bad thing.

BigaboyFett wrote:
Word on the mustard! I mustard' up my gauntlets at lunch break yesterday, painted over the dry mustard last light...then licked and chewed it off this morning...Musta-Licious! Looks great!

Predatormv wrote:
This weekend I will be putting up a "mustard method" tutorial with pics and all.

I can't recommend eating the mustard once it has been painted over, as I was always told eating paint chips was a bad thing.